


Let this be a symbol

by toqueso



Category: Toriko (Anime & Manga)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Polyamory, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:47:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24117484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toqueso/pseuds/toqueso
Summary: Rings were, of course, out of the question.
Relationships: Coco/Komatsu/Sunny/Toriko/Zebra, Komatsu/Rin (Toriko), Komatsu/Toriko (Toriko), Rin (Toriko)/Toriko (Toriko)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 40





	Let this be a symbol

**Author's Note:**

> Toriko fic, in 2020? It's more likely than you think.

Rings were, of course, out of the question. For one, Komatsu was a _chef_ , and a ring would interfere with any number of special-preparation ingredients, no matter how sterile the material. For another, for all the wondrous ingredients that had been discovered, there was not yet one known to withstand any of the Heavenly Kings' attacks. Any ring that one of them wore would be shattered (or melted) the moment they went after a new ingredient.

So the traditional, fourth finger ring wouldn't work. "But that's okay!" Komatsu declared. "We'll have something special; just for us -- that matches how special you all are!"

Zebra growled in response, red-faced, and nearly knocked Komatsu's pots and pans off their hangings. Nevertheless, the sentiment remained. It would be nice, after all, to have some symbol to tie them to each other, even when they were apart.

Not one week after, Komatsu’s phone lit up with Toriko’s ringtone during morning prep. Komatsu finished shucking the ouzo oyster he was on, wiped his hands on his apron, and picked up. “Toriko-san? Where to?”

(Behind him, his sous-chef had already begun preparing for Komatsu-sensei’s absence. The first noise anybody in the Hotel Gourmet staff learned was the shouts of “walking with a knife!” from the kitchen. The second through fifth were Komatsu-sensei’s special ringtones for all the Kings.)

“Komatsu!” Toriko’s voice boomed through the speaker. “Rin’s got the _best_ idea! Come over quickly!”

In the background, Komatsu heard Rin say, “Let me talk to him, Toriko--” before the line cut off.

Komatsu laughed and pocketed his phone. “Sorry, I--”

“--have to go, we know,” his sous-chef smiled, and snatched Komatsu’s toque blanche off his head teasingly. “Hurry up then, so you can come back quickly!”

Komatsu nodded and shucked the rest of his chef’s whites swiftly, packing them into the kitchen’s cupboard. “Yun!” He called, and swept up the baby wall penguin into his arms (but perhaps not a baby much longer, going by Yun’s weight). “Rin-san is going to take care of you for a bit,” he murmured, and dashed out the kitchen.

He ran into the elevator and tapped his foot while thinking of the things he needed to take with him. Obviously, his set of travel knives...a basic set of spices...as the elevator arrived at the lobby floor and he rushed out into the hustle of the city, he continued to make a list in his mind. If it were dangerous, Toriko would’ve said something, so maybe just the basics this time.

The train from Komatsu’s apartment to the station nearest Toriko and Rin’s sweets mansion took thirty minutes, and the taxi took another twenty. By then, Komatsu thought, maybe Toriko-san had already finished his morning meal? But upon arrival to the newly rebuilt house (Rin had negotiated its forty-first construction; Smile refused to speak to Toriko after the fortieth), it was Rin that opened the door. “Komatsu-san!”

“Rin-san!”

“Sorry, that husband of mine is still eating breakfast,” she laughed, and Komatsu nodded knowingly in return. “Come in and have some tea?”

“Of course!”

Komatsu released Yun, who immediately attached himself to Rin’s knees. He removed his shoes, giggling as Rin swooped down to kiss his forehead. He tugged her back as she was about to straighten so he could give her one in return. “Tell me, what was the idea you had?”

Rin beamed as she patted Yun on the head. “Listen, one of our researchers just finished their paper about this new beetle we’ve been raising in the sixth biotope. I’ve already let them know to let you in to get it! It has this unique property that I think would be really cool--”

The rumbling sound of footsteps alerted them to Toriko’s arrival. “KOMATSU!”

Toriko flung himself into the middle, with the crumbs around his mouth speaking to the haste of his usual ninety-minute breakfast routine. He licked off the residue before pressing kisses all over Rin’s face and simultaneously picking Komatsu up under his arm, hooking him into the crook of his elbow. “Finally, you’re here! Rin, _itte kuru_!”

“Wait, Toriko-san, my shoes!”

“ _Itterasshai_!” Rin called after them as Toriko sped out the door with Komatsu in his arms.

Once they were settled on a train to the sixth biotope (but after Komatsu had forced Toriko to go back, so he didn’t have to travel in socks), Komatsu had another chance to glean some information. “Toriko-san, what exactly are we looking for?”

“A gravity beetle!”

“Er…”

Toriko fished a crumpled ball of papers out of one of his jacket pockets, and passed it down to Komatsu in his lap. “Rin gave me the paper. Supposedly all the beetles in one hive are always attracted to each other -- so she thought that we could use it when we’re out in the field, to always keep in touch!”

“That’s amazing!”

“Yeah! It even has a bigger range than Zebra’s Voice Map.”

Komatsu giggled. “Maybe we don’t tell Zebra-san that.”

Toriko laughed. “Maybe!” He rested his chin on top of Komatsu’s head, scanning the smoothed-out document. “Huh, can’t make heads or tails of this.”

“It’s hard to parse,” Komatsu admitted. “I guess the best way is to see it in action.”

“Yeah!” 

They passed the rest of the ride discussing the capture method, pausing only to exchange kisses.

The sixth biotope was full of its own dangers (amber asps, capture level thirty-four! Fire ferns, capture level twenty!) But in the past five years, Komatsu had faced arguably the second-most dangerous beings in the world, surpassed only by the people that currently protected and loved him. Anyways, Toriko had reached the point where none of the creatures in the human world would provoke him willingly, after sensing the sheer aura he gave off.

It was a nice change, not being in mortal peril all the time. 

“Which way, Toriko-san?”

Toriko took a deep sniff of the air. “Northeast.”

They walked companionably, Toriko shortening his stride to make sure Komatsu didn’t fall behind. As much as Komatsu loved being cradled -- and as much as Toriko loved holding Komatsu, judging by how frequently he picked him up -- Komatsu wasn’t able to pick all the ingredients he wanted without freedom of movement.

“Is it okay that I’m seeing it before the others?”

Toriko nodded. “Even if I wanted to keep it a surprise, there’s no way I’m going to find an ingredient without you.”

Komatsu beamed. “Ah -- I see some cloud crawfish! Toriko-san, if you wouldn’t mind…”

“Got it!”

As Toriko speared his hand into the pond, Komatsu spotted a gray clump, rolling around the low-lying grasses as the paper had suggested. “Toriko-san!”

“Hm?” Toriko raised his head, mouth stuffed full of one of the crawfish. 

“Isn’t that…”

“Mm!” Toriko leapt up, deftly swallowing the remains of the fluffy shell. “That’s it! Nice find, Komatsu!” Toriko shot over to the hive and began attempting to pry it apart.

Komatsu watched him struggle for a few seconds before tapping him on the shoulder. “I think...it might be like the ozone herb, Toriko-san.”

Beads of sweat had begun to dot Toriko’s forehead. “Man…”

Komatsu sat down beside him. “On the count of three; one, two, three!”

They yanked in sync on two sides of the clump and were propelled several feet by the force of the release. In each of their hands was one squirming beetle, legs waving as it tried to head back to the hive. Komatsu and Toriko looked at each other before grinning.

“Nice, Komatsu!”

“I’m sure everyone will love it, Toriko-san.”

“‘bsolutely not,” Sunny sneered. “No way.”

Komatsu scratched his head. While he didn’t share Sunny’s particular aesthetic concerns, he could understand his reluctance. The shell pendant in Toriko’s hand was a mottled grey, flecked with white dots, giving it an appearance similar to the waste of a grape gull. The cord threaded through it was made from the fibers of a steel sycamore -- strong, but not perhaps elegant. “Well,” he began to explain, “it might not look like much…”

“Guess it’ll match _some_ of us then.” Sunny said and looked at Zebra.

Zebra laughed harshly. “Oh yeah? I’ll make sure you match too after I rearrange your face!”

“Sunny-san! Zebra-san!”

Toriko began to explain, ignoring the fight brewing in front of him. “It’s a gravity beetle! Its shell always moves towards the closest member of its hive -- so we’ll always know which direction to go to meet.”

“A BUG?! Gross!”

Coco, who had been silent up until then, put down his cup of tea. “That’s quite interesting. Would you mind…?”

Toriko fished around in his pocket before yanking out another shell necklace. He deposited it in Coco’s outstretched palm and grinned triumphantly as the lump began to spin and wobble in Toriko’s direction. “See? Neat, right?”

“It’ll even work in the Gourmet World?”

Toriko nodded, buoyed by Coco’s interest. “Yeah! Something about magnetic fields...I forgot, Rin was explaining it to me.”

Coco gave a half-smile and clasped it around his neck. “Thank you, Toriko.”

Sunny poked his head out of his ongoing squabble with Zebra long enough to roll his eyes, unmollified by Coco’s acceptance. “Of course you don’t remember. Can’t believe that sister married you.”

“Hey!”

“I think it’s very nice!” Komatsu interjected. 

During Sunny’s momentary distraction, Komatsu had taken the chance to clamber into Zebra’s arms, calming Zebra down. He didn’t mind the play-fighting, of course -- but not when they were in the middle of something so important! “Even though we can’t always be together, we all worry when we’re apart, right? This way, we’ll know that even when we’re out of reach, we can still find each other.”

Zebra tightened his arms minutely around Komatsu (never enough to hurt him, never) and buried his face in the junction between Komatsu’s neck and shoulder. It still wasn’t enough to hide his reddening ears, quickly darkening to match the shade of his hair. From that point of contact, the vibrations from Zebra’s grumbles spread through Komatsu’s body. Like the world’s grumpiest massage chair, Komatsu thought fondly.

Sunny ran a distracted hand through his hair before also huffily placing a hand out. “Well, hurry up and give it.”

Toriko beamed and nearly bowled Sunny over, lunging towards him to place it around his neck. “Zebra, you too! See, now we’ll always be connected!” He fished the remaining necklace out of his pocket and raised it triumphantly, clenching it in his fist.

“Ah, Toriko-san, your strength!”

“Oops!”

Toriko quickly opened his hand, and the crushed remains of the gravity beetle dropped onto the floor. “Ahaha, guess this means we’ll have to find another hive! Since we’re all here, let’s go together!”

“You planned this, didn’t you!”

Toriko merely gave a fanged grin in response and began ushering them all out Komatsu's apartment door. “Last train to the biotopes leaves at ten!”

**Author's Note:**

> I couldn't find a place to mention it, but I was thinking that Toriko and Rin exchanged handkerchiefs. It's an homage to Rin’s former profession as a tamer, and Toriko can carry her scent with him on the fabric. I'd also imagine that there was a lot of relationship negotiation...but that's not in this fic.


End file.
